Friendship: Defined by Shared Respect or Religious Brotherhood? Zuzanna Krawczyk College

A good friend is someone who is able to change from being selfish to selfless and through that, prioritize the needs of others before their own. Seen in The Story of Sindbad the Sailor, Sindbad the Sailor feels that he owes Sindbad the Porter the share of the stories of his travels, to teach the porter the right and wrong doings that he learned from his adventures. Sindbad the Sailor sees that throughout his many voyages, not all of his acts were selfless, therefore he feels the need to share his stories with Sindbad the Porter. Similarly seen in Abdallah the Fisherman and Abdallah the Merman” , Abdallah the Fisherman feels that in order to be fair to the baker who helped him in a time of need, he must return the favor and share the gifts of the sea with him. This is an example of selflessness shown through an embrace of equality. The ability of one individual to notice that when someone does something to help them out, the least that person deserves is to get the same treatment back. The motif of an eye for an eye is seen in this constant sense of selflessness in equality that is seen in both Abdallah the Fisherman’s need to share with the baker and the need to feel equal in friendship with Abdallah the Merman in the fact that...